It is indisputable that whoever wrote ‘Shakespeare’ was a genius. It’s also obvious that he (or she, or they) wanted the authorship to remain anonymous – for a very long time. How would a genius maintain his cover for eternity? By doing what, say, Agatha Christie, or Conan Doyle, the genii of whodunnits, would do – muddy the water, fill it with red herrings, send us on a wild goose chase. Mischievous deception on a global level is itself a sign of genius.

What is genius?

From Latin, the genius was the guiding spirit, tutelary deity, or ‘daimon’ of a person.
O dear, not the kind of definition academics and scientists like to grapple with! No neat little box to put a daimon in. But even without understanding the deeper meaning of the all-pervasive mystical symbolism (from Midsummer Night’s Dream to The Tempest, via Macbeth and The Merchant of Venice through to Twelfth Night and Hamlet) it’s obvious that the magical, mystical and mysterious forces of nature and spirit were very close to the heart of the author.

However, in excavating the plethora of dangerously ‘heretical’, biblical and mystical symbols, it becomes pretty obvious the author was a spiritual giant, an enlightened being with a very important message to us souls trapped on earth. Elucidated in my book Shakespeare’s Revelation, he defies the orthodoxy and dogma and offers us the (forbidden) key to the liberation of the soul from the prison of the mind and this world of heartache and the thousand natural shocks.

Why the big mystery and conspiracy?

Apart from the dire consequences of being dubbed a heretic (torture, execution, and destruction of all the works) one of the key attributes of mastership is humility. Like Bassanio, who, to find the image of the divine (Portia) eschews the glamour and falseness of gold and silver to choose simple ‘LEAD’, a true master has no need for praise, or recognition.

Suffice it to say, the truth lies in the text. And, throughout the text, Shakespeare poses a far higher order of question we are all challenged to ask and explore.

I revel in Mr Hunting’s clarity, perspicacity and gentle brilliance in elucidating the context of the Man, Shakespeare, and just how he too was, and is, on a par with the greatest Lights of all (non) Time.